


A passenger who disembarked from the course

by TFALokiwriter



Series: It's been a long road getting from there to here [3]
Category: Lost in Space (TV 1965)
Genre: Canon Dialogue, Episode AU: s03e18 The Time Merchant, Episode: s01e01 The Reluctant Stowaway, Episode: s03e18 The Time Merchant, Gen, Hugs, Let's go steal a canonical timeloop!, Men Crying, Sad with a Happy Ending, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:09:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24116308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFALokiwriter/pseuds/TFALokiwriter
Summary: The Jupiter 2 lifted off at 8:17 pm (EST) on the scheduled date, and for the first 50 million miles the craft was intended to be controlled by radio telemetry from earthbound and lunar tracking stations. The Jupiter 2 landed on Earth at approximately 6:03 pm (EST) a hour and fourteen minutes before flight alongside the identical twin in the year 1997.  And two members of the crew were ready to prevent history from occurring.
Relationships: John Robinson/Maureen Robinson, Will Robinson & Robot, Will Robinson & Zachary Smith
Series: It's been a long road getting from there to here [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1191097





	1. A unexpected arrival

"Women, children, get down to the lower decks, now!"

It was a announcement that once came from Professor John Robinson but instead, it came from the youngest of the family that was now the eldest member of the family. Mason looked on toward the time portal that was bound to be the savior of the family that had gathered over the last twenty years. People who hadn't thought to be possible over twenty years ago to be in a state of being. The Jupiter 2 was a large ship that was breezing through the battlefield.

"Mason!" Will announced. "Go down, now!"

The ship threw him aside then he crashed alongside the wall and made a bolt after the two older women, Branca and Vulet, crashing into the lift. Gale was on the upper decks of the ship in the installed fighting system returning fire as Will and Robot were seated side by side as the damaged to the hulls of the ship grew the more extensive as panic flew from deck to deck of the Jupiter 2 that was actively being scarred.

"Robot, how is the flight?"

"Exceptionally well given that we are in the middle of a fire fight."

"Ready to go home?"

"Home isn't a place, Will. I have always been home."

"Well then, we are going home _home_."

"Affirmative."

"Do we have enough fuel to make the flight in light speed?"

"My calculations indicate there is exceptionally enough fuel for this endeavor."

Will took the receiver off then clicked it.

"Bridge to lower decks, are you all stripped in?"

"Lower decks here," Vulet replied as her very British voice came over the line. "Rose and Zachary and Mason are strapped in."

"Brace yourselves, we are going to make it into the time warp. Tell Mason that he can finally stop running with us once we get there."

"He heard." Vulet replied as a loud whoop came over the line and Will smiled. "Good luck. Lower decks out."

Will clamped the radio receiver down.

"Let's go home."

Will slid the handle forward and the ship bolted on after the time portal as Will exclaimed, "Woohoooo!" through the swirling blue portal that was resting across from the armies wedged between two planets in silent chorus full of flames and electrical sizzling from damaged parts of the ships. The portal closed upon the entrance of the Jupiter 2. The Jupiter 2 flew through the time portal. Will guided the ship as it wedged side from side to side fighting against the currents with ease alongside Robot keeping the other side quite still.

The Jupiter 2 tore through the portal landing into the confines of space once more. Will looked out in awe then grinned. He made his way to the freezing tube then pressed a button. Smith staggered out of the tube but was caught by the younger man with a start. The elderly man leaned against the frame of the freezing tube as the silence echoed from deck to deck. The lift lowered across from them with Gale in the background. He came over to the side of the younger man. Smith's aged blue eyes struggled to open then faced the younger man. 

"Hello, Doctor Smith." Will greeted.

"Good morning, William." Smith wore a tired smile, half out of it, half in it, as he were visibly swaying. "Have another child?"

Will chuckled at the elderly man's comment.

"You mean did I get into trouble that only you can reverse?" Then Will shook his head. "No."

Smith laughed, softly, then looked up toward Gale. 

"How nice to see you, my dear friend." Smith said.

"As to you." Gale nodded back with a smile.

"If it not for another momentous and high stakes occasion, then whatever for, my dear captain?" Smith asked. 

Will looked toward Gale and the younger man nodded.

"You have to see this for yourself." Will said.

Will and Gale helped the fragile elderly man up to his feet then guided him toward the window of the ship.

"Oh?" Smith lifted a brow. "Another Kavaiaic?"

"No, Doctor Smith." Will replied. "It's Earth."

"The planet that you so fondly talk about to us." Gale said. "How diverse, how much culture it has, and its history, and landscape."

Smith's eyes flashed open as he looked on spotting the familiar planet with a single moon orbiting it and the continents were where he had last remembered them. The outline of New York city standing out against the darkness of the night as did notable large cities of the planet that stood united against the wrath of space and over population problems. Smith began to tremble as his eyes became watery seeing the planet before the view screen with no problems behind them, no restrictions, no rush, no tricks, just that it were their next destination. 

"Earth? Earth!" Smith cried clapping his hands together quite gleefully. "Eeeeeeaaaaaarth!" he threw his hands up into the air. "We're home!"

"Finally." Will chipped in. 

Smith grinned then looked up toward Will.

"I always believed in you, my dear boy! You brought us home! Bravo!" Smith applauded for the captain. "You brought us home!"

"It only took another momentous occasion that didn't require your assistance." Will replied.

"What kind of momentous occasion?" Smith squinted at the duo as he looked back and forth then lifted a brow.

"Just one been taken care of nicely." Gale finished for the younger man.

"How far are we to . . " Smith was struck by certain emotion then wiped a tear off. "Earth?"

"We are twenty-two hours away from landing point," Robot announced. "Long range sensors indicate we are on the day of the launch of the Jupiter 2. The Jupiter 2 will launch in twenty-four hours."

"We are back at the beginning." Smith said with widened eyes as he looked in. "Only one day."

"Affirmative." Robot confirmed.

"Robot, we are two hours away from Earth, is that what you mean to say?" Will asked.

"That is what I do mean to say." Robot replied.

The women and the children and Mason came up then crashed into hugs with various individuals of the crew. Will laughed, louder, for the first time than he had in a very long time as he hugged the two women in joy then hugged the other members as Gale relayed what had been told. Vulet and Branca looked toward the planet in awe in a group as the children were leaning forward side by side in front of the control console. Will cried a little then sighed.

"We're gonna get Doctor Smith not to board." Will said. "Doctor Smith, will you do us the favor and set the coordinates?"

Smith's head bobbed up then grinned.

"Why yes!" Smith said then went over to the joy stick and inputted the coordinates to the landing area as he grinned.

"Will, I require transfer to my environmental model."

"Gale, take over control of the ship in the mean time. Let's have ourselves a party!"

The family cheered as Gale took over control and Robot slid his navigation figure out of the chair then waddled toward the elevator surrounded by the Robinsons, Mason, and Smith. Mason had his arm landed around the elderly man's shoulder as he grinned. 

"Doctor Smith, can you believe twenty years ago that we started as strangers?" Mason asked.

"Hmph, that was THREE years ago to me, you pompous gloon!" Smith retorted.

"What does gloon mean?" Mason asked.

"Ask Gale," Smith said as he joined the crowd.

"Are you coming down with us, Sir Yahetson?" Vulet asked.

"In a moment." Mason replied, flashing a smile.

"Let's go down." Rose said, excited then pressed the side button and the family descended down the stairs.

Mason came to the Mezoniac's side.

"What does gloon mean?" Mason asked.

"Gloomy goon." Gale replied. "Mason. . ."

"Yeah?" Mason asked.

"I meant what I said earlier." Gale warned, his eyes focused on the orb laying ahead of them. "Any secret that I am keeping should he die will be revealed."

"Not as if you have some of the captain's DNA in you." Mason said.

The comment only earned a hum from the warrior.

"You removed his DNA from your veins. Remember?" he shook his hand leaning against the frame of the second chair and frowned. "That whole ordeal."

"He will know the secret and you will be stuffed into the freezing tube." Gale turned his attention toward the former prince with a dark glare. "My people shared bonds with the owed's family."

Mason leaned forward then straightened up with a gulp.

"I will see what I can do about that." Mason said. "I won't stir trouble down there with my last name and all."

"You have come a long way as a runaway former prince." Gale reminded. "You have been there when we had our first welcomed guests as children, been there when we met Vulet and Branca, been there when Will met his first love on a jungle planet and had Rose, been there in the wild west planet, been there for all of us in the last twenty years, been there when your father caught our ship and yet you wavered some," Gale sighed, lowering his head, tsking. "I hate to see that development being bold and courageous for your new family when we get on to the planet being undone."

Mason was quiet.

"It won't." Mason promised.

And Mason walked away then went down the decks through the corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Smith is not going to die.
> 
> Yes, this fic hit me as a 'elderly smith goes to the past after losing everything and preventing his counterpart from boarding the Jupiter 2 and makes sure the Robinsons get to Alpha Centauri' so, instead, I decided to turn this into two different story ideas. One, the return to the prison ship. Two, this fic as I couldn't let him go back ALL ALONE. Nope. Nopedy nope.


	2. Farewell to a life that was before

Will inputted the command to the uniform synthesizer a couple of times until a dozen so uniforms were steaming and ready to be worn. Will handed the uniforms one by one to the crew all except for Smith who had changed into the uniform that had aged well over the last dozen so years in storage. Smith played with his fingers looking out the window as the planet came closer to him in view with a tremble and a lump in his throat. He returned into the cabin then came back out in his regular dark clothing holding his clothing in his hands. Smith set the clothing on to the counter then Will entered and closed the cabin door behind him.

"Doctor Smith, why don't you change into your uniform?" Will asked.

Smith lifted himself up with a frown then smiled, kindly.

"Because that is not who I am anymore, William." Smith replied.

Will was amused as he grew a smile.

"What does it represent to you now?" Will asked.

Smith gave it some thought.

"A very greedy, selfish, and arrogant lonely man." Smith said.

Will folded his arms with a snort.

"Aren't you still the same greedy and selfish old man?" Will lifted a brow.

"Not anymore. I am not alone." Smith shook his head, bittersweetly, with a small smile. "Never have been since the Jupiter 2 welcomed me aboard."

"So, do you feel ready?" Will asked. "To face all those people again?"

"To savor the taste of civilization, why. . ." Smith held the nod back for a moment then did it. "I do."

"We have had close calls to Earth." Will said.

Smith scowled with a glare toward the older captain.

"Earth like planets, my dear boy!" Smith replied. "But never OUR planet."

"But, this time it is." Will grinned.

"What is your plan, William?" Smith lifted a brow.

"My plan . . . " Will leaned against the frame. "Change engines with the other Jupiter 2, hand over our fuel, and send Robot's navigation model in during the flight."

"Our modified engines?" he pointed back and forth.

"Yes." Will confirmed.

"What happens to the Jupiter 2 then?" Smith's brows knitted together,

"She will become a museum piece." Will assumed.

"A bit incorrect piece." Smith looked toward the younger man.

"Yeah, incorrect."

"William, how about I go?" Smith's comment drew alarm from the younger man.

"Doctor Smith---"

"The Jupiter 2 MUST launch!" Smith insisted.

"But not with you being alone!"

"The ship has only what---three cabins?"

"Three is more than enough--"

"No, your children WILL NOT be living another day of their lives watching their relatives rest!" Smith roared. "No! NO! That is enough of space for them! NOT AGAIN! Your mother, father, and siblings signed up for this, your family didn't." His voice came back as a sharp and furious hiss in the bitter reminder. "I won't lead the Robinsons to their doom a SECOND time!"

The roar sunk into the air.

"And don't you dare say you could go with me." Smith finished, harshly, on the issue. "You and I know both know that you cannot spend your entire life in space and with shadows of what you once _had_."

The elderly man was trembling, heartbroken himself at what he had to remind, his features softening.

"It wouldn't be fair to you." Smith went on to say. "The professor would try to reunite you with your family and there would be sweet failures that would break what little that is of your heart."

It was quiet between them as Will pouted then sighed and hung his head in defeat for a long moment.

"Robot can do it." Will said, finally, ending the silence as he lifted his head up.

"She must evade the route that dooms her," Smith reminded. "Robot is capable of malfunctioning and/or being sabotaged!"

"Robot is very advanced compared to most machines." Will said.

"And easy to sabotage." Smith's thin frown only deepened. "Do you not recall all those messes I had to get you out of?"

"I do but it was under very different circumstance." He paced back and forth across from the older man. "Nobody would disobey the galactic prime directive in this corner of space." he gestured toward the cabin door. "Robot can hardly be manipulated by the dancing women."

Smith's deepened frown only deepened further.

"This time, I know how to operate the console." Smith kept arguing on to the subject. "I CAN change the route to Alpha Centauri." he gestured toward the portrait of the supposed system alongside him on the board across from the bed. "Robot and I have checked the onboard star charts for our system and have found a safer route." he set his hands into his lap then became somber. "I have one year left, William! One year left before I go and I want to spend it on my own time."

"Not in a hospital bed recovering from surgery to tend to my ailment, not being attempted to be murdered by the people who hired me, not having to go back into space to evade authorities and my troubles. I want to spend that year preventing the demise of your family. I have had my time." Smith uncradled his hand then gestured toward his chest then toward the younger man. "You and your family have not."

"But alone?" Will asked, heartbroken.

"If it makes you happy then I can take Gale along." Smith said. "He is . . . a bit immortal. But, he can't go with me."

"I know what he is." Will admitted as Smith's eyes flashed open. "I have known since for the last nineteen years. But, taking Robot? That would make it a lot better letting you go."

"My dear captain, this is your life. Your command." Smith approached the younger man. "Your family. You will be fast asleep joining them in a few years. And there can't be two Robots in the same ship, you know that. He will return to his own time soon as he boards the ship."

"I don't want to let you go." Will's voice fell softer.

"Will . . . there is a younger version of me down there." Smith sighed, painfully, feeling his own heart break. "I want you to fight for him. He can live longer."

"He wouldn't be _you_." Will reminded. 

"Right now, as the ship is preparing to land, he will be me." Smith said.

"But our presence is breaking the time loop, Doctor Smith." Will pointed out. "We never came here the first time around so. . . it's over. There is no time loop."

"Gratitude, owe, and debts mean a lot to certain people." Smith put a hand on Will's shoulder. "It's time we made our good-byes, however badly that we don't want to say good-bye."

"What are you going to do on your last hour on the Jupiter 2?" Will asked.

"Have some morphine to ease the passing, my dear boy." Smith said, softly. "I need our spare morphine with me before I go to the other Jupiter 2."

Will looked aside, wincing, at the implication.

"You will get it." Will turned his attention upon the elderly man. "I am . . . I am. . . I am going to miss you."

"So will I." Smith agreed. "Ready to wreck what I made?"

Will grinned.

"Any day!"

Smith beamed back at the younger man.

"Then let's go break a time loop for old times sake, my dear boy!"

"Right!"

Will slid the door open then they exited the cabin and Smith closed the door behind him. They turned to face the waiting family dressed in their civilian uniforms that had been generated by the synthesizer. Their uniforms were clean, new, and bright instead of dull from their long travel in space. The family were visibly excited as they were staring out the window of the Jupiter 2 with their back to the duo. The planet was up close more than it had been in recent hours. Will cleared his throat then coughed into his fist, loudly, drawing the attention of the family.

"I have a announcement to make." Will said. "Doctor Smith is leaving with the Jupiter 2 to make sure your aunts and grandparents make it to Gamma."

"But father, Doctor Smith!" Rose protested. "He--you have one year left! You will die and decompose all alone on that ship and they will find you as a mummy!"

"I realize that, my dear girl." Smith replied with a wince upon the unhappy children. "I have already carefully thought it over. . . and decided a plan to deal with that little matter." 

"It is his decision, Rose." Will said. "The Jupiter 2 needs some guidance in her first year so Robot and Doctor Smith are going there. Robot will take care of. . ."

"Filling the Jupiter 2 of the necessities such as food and all the books that has been recommended for Doctor Smith to read," Robot replied. 

"You will or may meet a old man but very young down there." Smith replied. "Please be kind to me as you were to me."

"So, we have to give him some passes." Will said. "And if it comes down to it; make sure he doesn't make it to the Jupiter 2."

"If we let him make it, then our future will happen and we don't want that." Mason surmised.

"Precisely." Will said. 

"Negative, that is not necessary." Robot said. "I was the one who made sure the time loop continued to exist by giving a mean right hook," Robot waved his orange painted claw then his arm returned into his chassis. "I was quite aware it was a severe crime enough to bring him back."

"That was very unnecessary," Smith protested. 

"Was too." Robot argued back.

"Was not!" Smith's eyes flashed open in a fit of rage.

"Was too!" Robot argued back.

"Was not!" Smith scowled.

"Was too and you came along just as I had anticipated." Then Robot let go of a mechanical aged laugh.

"Right now, it's time we made our good-byes." Will stopped Doctor Smith from continuing that conversation. "We have a little over ten minutes before we make our landing."

It was Rose who hugged Smith then it was Zachary, Rose, Mason, Vulet, Branca, and last of all Will was yanked into the group hug by Branca. Unexpectedly, Robot wrapped his arms around the crowd in the center of the residential deck. The group cried, silently. It was a long moment they were in the hug then in a small moment that ended all physical contact between them.

It was Will who's eyes were the most red while Smith's eyes were merely still full of tears compared to the younger man and the children were wiping away their tears. The elderly man's demeanor faded at the sorrow that he was inflicting upon the younger man. He shouldn't have to do this. But, it _had_ to be done.

"Robot, get the additional morphine out." Will requested.

"Morphine?" Vulet asked.

"What do the Robinsons need with morphine that Alpha Control has?" Robot asked.

"It's for Doctor Smith's mission." Will said.

Robot's helm lowered.

"This is it." Robot acknowledged. "This is the beginning of the end."

"It's not the beginning of the end, Robot." Rose insisted.

"Doctor Smith will be leaving, Rose." Robot replied to Rose. "I cannot allow him to go alone and unprotected. And then I cannot leave you alone."

"Your younger self will be there." Will said. "Doctor Smith will reprogram him to protect him as well."

"My sensors feel better." Robot replied.

"Not even a insult for Robot, not even a distasteful comment about the end, no--" Mason was dumbstruck by the lack of words from the older man. "Are you all tuckered out, old man?"

"Says the man who has gone gray EARLY!" Smith exclaimed as Robot took out the additional morphine then clacked his claws and set the needle and morphine inside of it as the family laughed. 

"EARLY?" Mason repeated. "Come on, this isn't stressful!"

"You have been living in the very definition of hell, my dear Mason." Smith replied. "And brought it upon the Robinsons time after time."

"Fine, fine," Mason folded his arms as the women patted along their head subconsciously afraid of having gone gray early and exchanged worried glances. "You're right."

With two words, "It's time to land." from Will, the family set about the crash couches and became comfortable. Robot waited in the center of the bridge as Smith looked on fondly toward the group then moved toward the chair at the auxiliary deck and buckled himself in. He watched as the atmosphere of the planet come closer. Smith grew a broad grin from ear to ear staring upon the familiar blue sky. The family cheered loudly as the Jupiter 2 flew into the atmosphere coming closer to the designated coordinates.

Lumps grew in the throats of Will and Smith observing the waiting Jupiter 2 below them for her maiden voyage with a platform that lead inside of her. Smith was quite distant for a moment as he watched the Jupiter 2 shrink in size as the present day Jupiter 2 proceeded to wail coming down to the landing pad beneath the Jupiter 2 that was on silver support beams. The Jupiter 2 landed on her landing legs. The family unbuckled from their chairs then made a bolt for the doorway. Will came to a pause then looked toward Smith.

"It's time we said good-bye." Will said as he pressed the button.

The family looked toward Smith.

"I'll start." Smith said. "Farewell."

"Good-bye, Zachary senior." Zachary said.

"Goodbye, Zachary junior." Smith said then watched Zachary descended down the stairs.

"Good-bye, godfather." Rose said with a small wave and Smith returned the small wave with a tiny smile.

"Good-bye! Take care of yourself! Make sure you eat right!" Branca and Vulet said as they descended down the stairs with a wave with their figures turned toward him waving their hands.

"Good-bye, old man." Mason said.

Gale came out of the doorway then paused and nodded toward them.

"Good-bye, Healer Smith." Gale held his hand out then Smith shook it.

"Farewell, my dear warrior." Smith said.

Then Gale descended as Smith turned toward Will.

"Good-bye, Doctor Smith." Will said as his heart felt as though it were cracking into pieces. 

"This is not the end, William." Smith reminded. "My counterpart isn't leaving any time soon."

"But, he hasn't been through what we have." Will told the elderly man. "You are leaving. The one I know through and through. And. . . I don't know how I can go on without one of my best friends."

""You do have that ninny to remain by your side." Smith reminded the younger man. "Turn off the lights, please."

"I will." Will smiled, fondly, back at him.

Smith held his hand out without another word.

"If you happen to return home after you go, will you tell dad. . . mom. . . the others . . ." Will stumbled over a few of his worlds. "That I _tried_ to come home to them?"

"I will. I will." Smith began to grow emotional. "However, I feel that they already know."

"Wherever they are." Will added, choking on his own feelings. "Whenever they are."

Smith smiled back heartbroken back at the captain then stretched his arms out. 

"Another hug for your dear old Doctor Smith, please?"

Smith and Will exchanged one last tight hug that was delicate and careful. It was a short moment but one that was treasured by both parties. For Smith, he was hugging the child inside of the younger man. A child that he had failed to reunite with his parents and fulfill the mission. It was the biggest regret that he had. However that regret was going to be put to bed with the events of the night and the fact made him smile with his eyes closed.

They backed off with sniffles of their own and wiped their tears off. Smith wiped away the tears with his handkerchief then tucked them away into his pocket. Will smiled, turned away, then pressed two buttons. The inside of the ship darkened around him so Will descended down the stairs with a press of a button that closed the door. Smith sighed, heartbroken, then turned toward the machine. 

"I am ready, Doctor Smith." Robot said as his grill glowed against the dark. "Let me help."

Smith smiled.

"And so, you shall, my dear bubble headed friend." Smith said.


	3. This is Alpha Control

"Oh!"

Smith was seated in the examining chair in his office, comfortable, quite abruptly. 

"This is Alpha Control." Came the voice that he had only heard three years ago. "Zero minus one hour and fourteen minutes and holding."

"Alpha Control? Alpha Control! I've made it! Terra Firma!" He rubbed his hands together, slowly, thrilled. "Earth! Sweet! Earth! Dear wonderful place!"

Smith knelt down to the floor with his hands first then the door opened behind him as he tearfully cried in joy on the matter of being home again. It was a familiar sound that he hadn't heard in the last three years. A sound that brought certain happiness to him just to hear something Earth-like. Natural, completely expected, completely made by something that wasn't terrifying. He heard footsteps coming toward him and boots shuffling.

"Smith! What are you doing on the floor?"

"The floor?" Smith lifted himself up partially from the floor then recognized the figure that belonged to General Squires, the older man made Smith smile by the inside, beam happily in the mind to see a familiar face, as he kept himself held together by simple mere acting. "Yes the floor? The floor's the floor."

Smith got up to his feet using his knee as his support up.

"You see I have dropped my pencil and I simply can't find it anywhere." Then he beamed, unable to hold it back much longer, grinning at his colleague. "You are General Squires, are you not? It's been such a long time!"

"It's been exactly fifteen minutes since I told you to uncrate that Robot and get him aboard the Jupiter 2!"

"What? Yes, yes, indeed. Robot, I shall attend to it immediately. Seargent, snap to and uncrate that robot!"

"Yes, sir!"

Smith put his hat on the shelf.

"It will be out of there in just a moment." Smith grinned gesturing toward the crate.

The crate was opened when a officer came in as Smith went toward the entrance of the crate then flipped a few switches of the machine.

"Aff-irmative."

"Affirmative my foot! I forgotten how delightful that he was before you become so insulent, you punanimous pipsqeak!"

"Are you alright, Smith?" Squires asked.

"I am fit as a fiddle! In the pink!" Smith exclaimed. "And in the prime!"

"As it should be. Your efficiency hasn't been good lately." Squires reminded the younger man who only looked aside in shame and regret. "You better shape up."

"Yes, sir." Smith said.

Squires left the office.

"Shape up, indeed." the younger man puffed his chest out and lifted his chin up with a distasteful frown. "Such presumption." he turned his attention upon the military police. "Sergeant, wheel him out of here. I seriously doubt that he will be used but you might as well take him to the ready room. And then stand by. I shall supply your services."

"You don't think they'll use the Robot, sir?" The sergeant asked, incredulously.

The sergeant pointed toward Robot.

"This is part of their basic equipment." the sergeant reminded. "That thing cost money!"

A series of boots rushed by the doorway, loudly, past Smith's room.

"That is a sure invitation to a congressional hearing."

"Only if they make the flight." Smith replied. "Which is extremely dubious at this point, I have some Tic Tok secret information." he glared toward the sergeant. "Well, what are you waiting for?" 

The officers moved toward Robot.

"Careful! Careful!"

Robot was lifted out of the crate.

"Careful! Careful!"

Robot was directly out of the room.

"Countdown is one hour and fourteen minutes and holding. Monitors will continue to hold a visual sweep of the launch pad three-- A flying saucer has just arrived at launch pad three. A flying saucer has just arrived at launch pad three. All military personnel are reporting to stations."

A loud wail echoed belonging to the alarms through Alpha Control as Smith seated in the chair watching as the camera panned over to the large but wider counterpart. The hair all over Smith's skin raised up in fear as he felt sunk into the chair. Smith paled as fright came over him as he gripped on to the arm rest of the chair feeling so small and terrified of the saucer that was behind the black and white screen. 

"Nooo! NOO! NOO! IT'S THEM! THEY'VE COME BACK FOR ME! I CAN'T GO BACK THERE! I have only just come back! Nooo! I don't want to go back! Nooooo!!"

Smith was wailing as he watched a child's figure come down the stairs then his fear vanished.

"Oh, it's not William."

A young woman with some resemblance to Judy with some of Maureen's features came down the stairs.

"That's not Judy."

Smith watched as a dark man with graying curly hair came down the platform and the children grinned looking up toward him.

"That is not anyone from the Jupiter 2."

Smith leaned forward noticing how tearful they looked as they turned away from the entrance of the saucer.

"Who are these people? Aliens? Invaders!"

Two women came down the stairs holding hands and nothing looked about them asides to some alien characteristics that the screen highlighted.

"Pray tell, what could they be?"

A tall man came down the stairs joining the crowd. 

"What in the heavens!"

Behind the tall Asian man came down a short man who was older than Smith with a familiar face that had _aged_ significantly.

"Will--Will---Will---Will---William?"

Smith was floored in shock and leaned his back against the chair as the older man on the screen was smiling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I rewatch some portions of the time merchant to make sure I wrote canon correctly? Yes.


	4. The waiting room

The Robinsons were waiting to be transported to the Jupiter 2 when the announcement came over the line about the unexpected saucer and exchanged glances with the other on the unexpected development. The major was up front as the minutes were ticking by.

"Saucer?" Penny asked. 

"That is really sudden." Judy said. "Could it be the Jupiter 1?"

"The Jupiter 2 was destroyed on site during the launch, children." John said. "Cameras caught her destruction."

"Alien invasion?" Maureen speculated then frowned. "First contact? What is going on out there?"

"The announcer said there is one saucer that has landed so it must be a greeting party from space for us to be the first Earthlings to leave Earth." Penny speculated.

"Or maybe," Don turned in the direction of the Robinsons. "They are going to do what was done with the Jupiter 1 but instead do this broad daylight."

"What would the point be in doing that?" Maureen asked.

"That would only start a war, darling." John replied to Maureen. "A very long and lasting war that would scars on every person's psyche."

"Don't forget that kind of war would relieve the planet of the additional population thriving," Don noted.

"Earth would recover from over population easily within this decade if the war would to start." Then John grimaced and so did Maureen over his comment.

"Would we die?" Penny asked, slightly afraid.

"No, no, no." Maureen said. "It isn't quite the solution to have bodies all over the place on a small matter."

"The United Defense Command Headquarters have plans and preparation for this event should the aliens take the first shot." Don noted.

"Who could the visitors be?" Judy asked. "Colonists, spies, invaders, travelers?"

"We won't know until the investigation has been done by the Military Police and announced by Alpha Control after we make it to Alpha Centauri." John said then exchanged a glance with the weary major on the designated moment of launch. "If all goes to plan."

"We will get there." Judy said. "People are just making a fuss about us leaving because _'it is not natural_ '."

"Those ignorant people think we can solve all our problems by warring with other nations." John folded his arms shaking his head in disappointment. "Thankfully, people have more intelligence and moral than to have wars about oil anymore."

"When was the last war about oil?" Will asked.

"Twenty-five years ago," Maureen beamed as she made her reply. "I recall that day." She smiled warmly, looking back, a memory coming to life that was so long ago. "I was a little girl back then, seeing people dance in the streets when the Berlin wall came down, when the CIA was disbanded, when we had democratic reforms in almost every manner of life."

"The United Nations of Earth." John said. "Used to be quite surreal to say when it was first announced."

"Who would have thought?" Don asked. "Despite all the natural ways of death, cancer, car accidents, murder, and all sorts of violent crime, that Earth would have over population problems without war looming over and terrorism."

"I don't think that war and terror had anything to do with population control." John said. "It has to do with everyone having children after the announcement."

"Almost everyone." Maureen chipped in. "The children back then were too young to have their own."

"Except for the children." John agreed with a lone nod and a small laugh.

The door to the waiting room was opened and Colonel Morrison entered the room.

"Robinsons, your launch is clear to go." Morrison said as relief fell upon the family.

"What about the aliens?" Penny asked.

"Are they just lost travelers?" Will added.

"We have certain assurance that they are not here to see it be sabotaged." Morrison replied.

"What kind of certainty can ease Alpha Control's fear of the unexpected?" Maureen asked.

Morrison stepped aside then pointed on toward the hallway with his brows lowered, furrowed together, as the sound of footsteps were heading their way. He motioned the Robinsons and the major to remained where they were as their eyes were kept on the space ahead of them. Distant laughter grew louder as did the volume of the footsteps headed their way.

"So, I said to the President of Karcia's British alien territory that no thanks. We're not returning Vulet and Branca just so they can be imprisoned for deciding not to get married to their bethrothed. They're not criminals!"

"Oh, but they are criminal at a game of cards!" Mason said. "So, captain, now that we're on Earth. . . Going to drop the Captain Robinson bit to live as Will Robinson?"

Will turned his attention upon Mason as they walked past the room that the Robinsons were in.

"Eh, it is possible given that there are thousands if not millions of people on this planet who's names are Will Robinson." Will's voice trailed back as he were followed by a group of people who were grinning as they followed him down the corridor.

The Robinsons were quiet as Don stepped out and leaned against the frame watching the group vanish before his eyes taking a turn.

"That's me."

The younger Will was the first to speak up ending the silence in the room.

"Yes, it is." Morrison said. "That's what I was able to gather from a visual scan."

"How old is he?" John asked.

"Sixty-three." Morrison said.

"SIXTY-THREE?" Don exclaimed as the Robinsons's eyes flashed open.

"That is almost fifty-three years in space." Judy said as John and Maureen's attention shifted toward Will in certain shock, confusion, and concern.

"Captain Robinson hasn't mentioned the specifics of his flight or how he was able to get here so we should refrain from assuming that he spent most of his life in space." The colonel explained. 

"Where are they going?" John asked.

"To Military Housing for the time being." Morrison said. "They are taking the apartment that your family used to live in. General Squires is currently assembling a personal group of Military Police to do a sweep of the saucer. You'll have a nice flight."

Morrison smiled then walked away as John and Maureen went to the far off corner of the room.

"John, this is a sign." Maureen said.

"That what? We get off course?" John asked. "And try to get back home?"

"No," Maureen replied.

"Then what?" John furrowed his brows.

"That we get into a time warp and spend fifty years trying to reach Alpha Centauri." Maureen explained with reluctance and dread but quite simply. "John, we may have made the wrong choice deciding to take Penny and Will with us."

"Darling, he may have come from a timeline where he went after us in the next Jupiter to join us at Gamma in five years and something goes wrong." John's rebuttle silenced her as she mulled it over looking aside on the potential case. "Now, wouldn't it be not too bad if he got lost with us instead of on his own with his little sister?"

"I don't know." Maureen said then they looked back toward the children and their attention shifted toward the other. "But, I am scared."

John put a hand on the side of her shoulder and cupped the side of her shoulder.

"So am I." John said.

Maureen smiled as her eyes faced his eyes that were full of certain fear and unease about their flight.

"You're right, John." Maureen said. "It won't be half-bad if we get lost together instead of apart."

John grinned and all was right with the family once more.


	5. The reluctant confession

"Sergeants, this way."

The Sergeants stared at the massive and towering spacecraft that was twice the size of the eighty foot starship that had managed to fit neatly in neatly shoving aside the towering support legs that had been shoved aside so the ship could make the landing. They quietly followed after the general up the wide staircase into the ship that was dark with their hands grasping along their long white batons. They entered as a group into the pitch black ship that had all the windows closed.

"Someone, turn on the lights."

"Yes, sir."

The lights flicked on revealing a lone elderly man standing in the middle of the room.

"Hello, my dear General." Came the voice that belonged to the aged Smith.

"Smith! Smith?"

Squires was surprised, no less.

"It is so good to see you." Smith approached the general with a smile. "It has been what, three years? Three years since I last saw you."

"How--" Squires stopped then glared and pointed his finger at the shorter man who was still smiling back at him. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"I am here to confess a crime that will be committed tonight and threats that I have made toward the program in general."

"You are from the future." Squires said. 

Smith nodded.

"That is the case."

Squires watched the man walk aside and pause at the auxiliary deck chair.

"Why are you confessing?" Squires asked.

Smith tapped on the back rest of the chair.

"To make sure that Colonel Smith stays on Earth where he belongs." Smith replied, swiftly. "We have spent six years in space."

"We need evidence of your crimes." Squires reminded as Smith lifted a brow then smiled in return to the general. "A confession wouldn't just do."

"You had thirty minutes to find it and you found it last time." Smith said. "Now, by looking for it . . . you will find it sooner than later."

"Last time?" His brows furrowed together. 

"Time loop matter." Smith elaborated. "Made by my own doing."

"That is a hefty and very dangerous matter if it were possible." Squires said.

"It is possible, my dear general." Smith's voice became grave and sincere. "Remember the Tic Toc program? Those two young promising men? You can rescue them if you make a deal with Professor Chronos. I'll tell you all about that." Smith then pointed toward the exit of the ship. "You see that young man you left behind at my office?"

"I have seen him." Squires said. 

Smith looked so old and sagged by age while in contrast to his mortality his counterpart was youthful, kept together, and age had hardly done a dent into his manner of being. He looked finely aged asides to the tiny differences that amounted to hundreds of differences that made someone else entirely from atom to atom to the DNA. He stood in the Jupiter 2 colonist uniform instead of a space suit or the United States Space Corps uniform.

"You find -- or had found him -- him quite terrified in thirty minutes as a machine loomed over him. It will (or may not) have amnesia."

"But we just moved him to the ready room a minute ago, sir." the sergeant said. "He can't move."

"He will explain that later." Squires said.

Smith nodded with a small smile.

"Which is where he will remain if this time loop has been destroyed." Smith lifted his brow then lowered it. "I shall provide you with the necessary information, the name of my employers, the date in which I became tangled in their scheme. I . . ."

"What is it?" Squires asked.

"Do you recall the then-navigator Clarissa?" Smith asked.

"Yes." Squires said.

"We were involved." Smith said. "You didn't listen to my concerns of her fight and she _died_."

The memory of the Jupiter 1 exploding on the platform echoed in his memory. He could still remember the screen displaying the hull with flames erupting out of it and holes that weren't there before standing out of the ruined shape of what had been a saucer.

"It was a tragedy." Squires said.

"She is why I defected." Smith replied. "It was to display the injustice of Alpha Control. I hate this institution with every FIBER of MY BEEEEIIIIIINNNGGG."

"Why are you telling me this when your younger self can?" Squires lifted a brow.

"Because six years isn't enough to grieve for the loss of the most significant woman in my life." he waved his hand. "Counting the years after the destruction of the Jupiter 1." he cupped his hands together in his lap. "My youngerself can provide you all the information that is needed."

"You just said that you would hand over the information." The sergeant said.

"I was referring to the youthful version. General, there are so many things I want to tell you that happened."

"Well, you can start here." Squires said. "From where you were on the launch day of the Jupiter 2."

The aged blue eyes drifted toward the sergeants.

"Can you spare thirty minutes?" Smith asked.

The general nodded.

"I can." Squires said.

Smith gestured toward the galley table. 

"Please, sit over here."

Smith filled three ceramic cups as the men went toward the table.

"Don't make any sudden moves, Smith." Squires said.

Smith came to the doorway of the Jupiter 2 looking toward a familiar place of employment and advancement just waiting to be marked by his presence in a few short moments.

"Oh, believe me, my dear general." Smith turned toward the general still wearing the grin. "I won't be so reckless as the original version."

Smith went toward the table.

"Give us the short version." Squires said.

Smith sat down at the back of the table.

"So, I shall. So I shall. . ." Smith said. "You will need to send the order to perform the investigation and jail my counterpart. It will only take thirty minutes."

"Sergeant, inform Alpha Control to investigate Smith." Squires ordered. 

"Yes, sir." and the MP departed the ship.

"Now, the short hand version of how you got stuck in a time loop." The general shook his finger at the colonel. "Explain it in five to ten minutes then work your way through what happened after you fulfilled the time loop."

And Smith sang like a canary of his sabotage.


	6. Protecting the launch

"Astronauts in the following order will enter freezing tubes and prepare for launch: Will Robinson, Penny Robinson, enter tubes."

"They never wanted me along anyway." Smith retold to himself with his arms folded watching as the professor bid goodnight to his children. "They were always threatening to leave me somewhere."

He briefly smiled on the next thought.

"They will be much happier this way."

A claw landed on his shoulder then he leaned back swiping away the counter away from himself.

"Doc-tor Smi-th."

"NEVER DO THAT AGAIN YOU BUBBLE HEADED BOOBY! YOU FRIGHTENED ME OUT OF TEN YEARS GROWTH!"

Smith relaxed as his figure trembled in the chair.

"Forgive the outburst, dear friend." Smith grew apologetic and sincere then smirked to see a old foe standing before him. "I can see some of your faulty connections are starting to make sense. You've come back to stay with me."

"You called me a bubble headed booby." Robot said. "I am beginning to remember."

"Put yourself together, you ninny." Smith said then pointed toward the screen. "You'll miss the excitement. They're getting ready to blast off very soon."

Robot twirled toward the screen.

"Zero minus fifty minutes and counting." came over the comn.

"We shall spend a superbative life together here. You and I, I promise you."

Smith was happy as a lark. It would make his court martial all the most simple and easy to navigate should Alpha Control find his dealings with the people that trapped him aboard the Jupiter 2. The glee was so powerful enough to cause him to forget about them for a moment and focus on a bright future that he could see playing out in his mind. As he had suspected, Robot followed him to the past where he would get plenty of oil baths by servants and all the treads in the world.

"I shall program you beautifully and you will find sustainable and lucrative employment to maintain us both in the proper style."

"Program . . ." Robot bobbed his helm up. "Program!"

Robot twirled toward Smith.

"It all comes back to me, now." Robot announced. "I am not here to look for a job. I am here to bring you back to the ship. It is imperative."

"IMPERATIVE, INDEED!" Smith wailed as he hid behind the chair. "Wild horses can't drag me aboard that ship!"

"It is impossible to reason with you, therefor I must take you aboard by force!"

"Stay away from me you armor plated pallbearer! I am not going!"

"I am sorry but you must go!"

"No, I mustn't!"

"There is no time for playing games! I advise you to come peacefully!

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"

"Your condition is unimportant! YOU MUST BE ON THAT SHIP AT BLAST OFF!"

"LET ME TELL YOU MY CONDITION. MY CONDITION IS MY OWN!"

"COME ON!" Robot smacked a claw on Smith's shoulder and Smith shrieked as he fell into the chair.

"NooOO!"

The door opened and Smith turned in the direction of the door opening that had Squire staring at him in such a way that he hadn't seen from him in a long time. Not since he had discovered something truly disturbing, shocking, and quite horrifying at seeing it occur. The look faded replaced by a more familiar look, professional, not irked by personal feelings, but marred by disappointment. Squires walked into the office as Smith remained seated where he was in the chair cooling down his nerves waiting for the older man to arrive. 

"Attent hut!"

Smith leaped to his feet and saluted the officer.

"Colonel--Major--General!"

"Smith." Squires started as the man stood by the machine's side. "You'll consider yourself under arrest."

Smith didn't react, only dumbstruck, but quite attentive.

"Sergeants."

The sergeants came around the two.

"There have been reports of your threats against this mission." Smith's hands were linked behind his back and he was cuffed with the distinctive sound of cuffs being clasped around his wrists. "Have anything to say for yourself."

"I confess. I confess everything." Smith said, quite sincerely, as the color drained from the general's features watching a man confirm everything that he had heard only a short time ago. "Arrest me, put me into protective custody," The pleading was quite unusual but perhaps not. "Only save me from him!"

"Ah," Squires said. "Right where he was supposed to."

"You must protect me!" Smith cried. "He is persecuting me!"

"How peculiar, sir." the sergeant beside him whispered back. "And his claws are painted orange."

"Weren't they silver?" Squires asked.

"Yes, sir." the sergeant replied.

"Sergeants move him to the holding cell with the other." Squires ordered then approached the machine as Smith was tugged away. "And make sure the entrance to the cell wing is protected."

"Yes, sir!"

"Bon voyage! Adiue!" Smith sang. "I am free! I AM FREEEEEEEE!! EAAAARTH! EAAAAAARTH! I LOOOOVE EARTH!"

Squires faced the machine as two other MP officers came in.

"Move Robot into the Jupiter 2." Squires said. "We have a launch to protect."

"Yes, sir."

The officers lifted Robot and began to tow him away then he turned in the direction of the doorway and lifted his attention up.

"God, show me a sign I am doing the right thing." Squires said. "The launch is all in your hands."

Then he went to the control room of Alpha Control and waited for the launch to occur as scheduled.


	7. If I could make a deal with god to switch our places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue heavy, be warned.

Smith was uncuffed then sent into the dark cell. He rubbed along his wrist as the euphoria coursed through him. He rubbed his hands together so giddy and thrilled of a mission well done. _Home! Home! Home at last!_ Being home was the best feeling in the world. He was practicing on the soles of his feet up and down as he giggled to himself being ravaged by his own joy as he started to cry into his hands and cease to bounce. These were tears of joy not tears of sorrow and he fell down to his knees landing to the ground.

Smith was that way for almost a hour then got up to his feet as he hiccuped then set himself into the corner of the room. Smith were home and that was the best part of all. Smith proceeded to have a start to sneeze as he took his handkerchief out of his pocket and felt the familiar grandfather watch in his pocket, cold and silver. He yanked out the handkerchief out of his pocket then sneezed into it.

"Bless you."

"You are very welcome, dear Zachary."

He raised his head up then turned in the familiar voice.

"Who is there?"

A hand reached out in the dark then yanked the string and the light in the center of the dark room lit up.

"Show yourself! Daddy Zach? Zeno? Who are you?"

The figure walked out into the light.

"You." his counterpart smiled, elderly, in such a way that the younger Smith was horrified. "And quite better looking."

Smith screamed jumping into the corner of the room and sunk until his counterpart was the only one standing watching him sink. The elderly Smith looked down upon him with a lift of his aged arched brow and a tilt of his head. His brows lowered then furrowed together losing all the warmth and bemusement that were once held in them toward Smith.

"Stay away from me! Stay away from me!" Smith plead. "Spare me! Spaaaare mee!"

"You were hired by Aeolus 14 Umbra to sabotage the voyage of the Jupiter 2."

"You can't be me! It can't be! You can't be."

"And why not?"

"Because that would mean I spent fifty years with those rotten people!"

"You didn't."

"But, I saw Will!"

"You and he DIDN'T." he stepped forward looking warmly upon the younger man.

He stared at the older counterpart then became defiant.

"No! I won't go back to them!" Smith shook his head. "You can't make me! I want to stay!"

"Zachary, Zachary...." it came out quite playfully and fondly. "Ease yourself." The comment was soothing so his figure relaxed. "You shall stay on Earth forever."

The elderly Smith shook his head as he went over to the doorway of the cell.

"What? What?" He was baffled on the reaction of the future version. "Then. . . why are you here?"

The elderly Smith snickered turning his attention upon him with a small smile.

"If you go out that door with the booby then in a few short weeks, Will will _never_ see his family again."

"They deserved getting to Alpha Centauri." His counterpart was silent as he glared with death at his counterpart refusing to explain why. "You and Will are not freely traveling on your own with a replica of the Jupiter 2?"

"That **IS** the Jupiter 2, my dear Zachary." 

Smith stared in shock.

"Three years ago, something happened to us and separated us from the others. I was aged beyond comprehension as was Will on the bridge of the Jupiter 2. Whatever happened to us, it happened to her as well." The elderly Smith sighed, his shoulders loosening, lowering his head and cleared his throat. "It's been a long road getting from there to here."

"Why is it so imperative that we be there?"

His demeanor became grim.

"Four months after the lift off, the Jupiter 2 and her astronauts are destroyed by a unexpected asteroid."

"They. . ." A lump came in the younger man's throat in fright as he trembled. " _die_?"

It was then that the older Smith looked on with a small smile that widened facing toward the younger man as he recognized where in what point of time that he were. He were in the original timeline, before the time loop was continued, before the loop was permanently established by his reluctant acceptance, before he became the reluctant stowaway to the Jupiter 2 for a eternity, before he accepted the role of antagonizing the major and threatening the Robinsons for two years before becoming quite less threatening. He was the first Smith.

"Sadly without any fight." Reported the older quite sorrowfully. "Nor any excitement."

"We didn't need to sabotage Robot at all." Smith said with a frown.

"And we won't." the elderly counterpart nodded in certainty. "I am going to pilot the ship on a direct course to Alpha Centauri for a year."

"Specific number." His counterpart noted, his eyes squinting at the elderly Smith.

"Then after my year is up, I will make the proper adjustments to the coordinates," then he decided to share what his last moment would be like right as he injected himself with morphine, right as he started to leave this plane of existence. "then air-lock myself out so my presence wouldn't have been known."

"YOU DO----WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Smith shrieked. "THAT IS UNDIGNIFYING! HORRIBLE! DISHONORABLE! That is NOT how a GENTLEMAN GOES OUT! NO! A SMITH DOESN'T GO THAT WAY!" his hands rolled into fists as he lashed out at the elderly man beginning to find specific choice words that insulted him. "We go with dignity and self-respect you moronic good filled elderly man."

The younger Smith was pacing back and forth from his side of the cell as the elderly man watched him in bemusement listening to the shrieks and bellowing that forth from him. The anger that was coming from him was being released in a over the top manner.

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENEAAAATH A DOCTOR ZACHARY SMITH!" He pointed toward the older man with a scowl. "You've gone senile and foolish just like the Robinsons!"

The elderly Smith raised his eyebrows at once then lowered them with a spark in his eyes.

"Oh, have I now?" the elderly Smith became flattered as he put a hand on his chest and smiled lowering them down to his lap. "Why thank you for that kind compliment."

Smith looked toward the man's hands that were being cradled then lifted his attention up as the signs were all there in his view. The most visible sign that his health was going the wrong way. He stared at the elderly man confused and startled. With so little time left, he was spending the last moment of his life guiding the Robinsons to the planet that they would call home for the rest of their lives and never known of the sacrifice that the older man had to make to make sure they got there.

Smith was stunned for a few solid moments.

"My health can't be that poor at that age!" Smith exclaimed.

"It is... _Exactly_... What you think it is, my dear Zachary."

Smith put his back against the wall in fright, horror, and distress.

"It can't be! It mustn't be!" Smith said. "Nooo! NOOO! NooOOo!"

"I am just one possible future." his counterpart replied. "You can avoid this with a simple medical procedure."

"You can't be." Smith whined.

His counterpart approached him with a small smile of acceptance.

"I am at Death's doorstep." The elderly man announced.

Smith covered his mouth with a hand as the shock from the news confirmed what he had seen and a heart string was pulled.

"I have had my adventure."

The older man folded his arms looking aside.

"All six years of it." 

He shifted his attention on to Smith who was sobbing and weeping as it became apparent that his deepest regret brought him here.

"It's time I repayed the Robinsons for their kindness for hosting us for as long as they did."

Smith uncovered his mouth with a scowl.

"You SEEM to FORGET that you are IN A JAIL CELL!" Smith exclaimed.

His counterpart smiled.

"Not for long." the elderly man replied. 

Smith's eyes flashed open as he paled then used the bars as his support up as it dawned on him.

"You are me." His voice trembled as he stared in dismay. "You look horrible!"

His counterpart snorted.

"I am still quite handsome at this advanced age." the older counterpart replied to Smith.

The elderly Smith pointed toward the doorway then Smith looked toward the cell.

"This does not deter me, Doctor Smith." Robot announced. "One of you is coming with me!" 

"NEEEEEEVEEEEEEEEEEER! I am staying right here." Smith sat down on to the bed across from the elderly man and nodded. "Staying put safe and sound!"

Robot lowered his helm in resignation.

"I will get out of this in a much comfortable state of being with my leverage out of this nasty affair." Smith twirled a hand then glared toward his counterpart. "Fixing your mess is going to require a lot of patience and time but time I can spend!"

Robot turned toward the elderly counterpart.

"You . . ." Robot said.

"I volunteer as tribute." The older man announced, calmly, without dramatics, without any screaming, shrieking, or colorful words. 

Robot electrocuted the cell door then the elderly man went out and closed the door behind him.

"I did not anticipate you going along with me so easily to the Jupiter 2." Robot noted.

"Love is guiding me through this for our lovely associates, my dear old friend." the elderly Smith replied. "Love."

"I have knocked out the cell guards." Robot said. "They will not be happy with this development."

"Before I go," the elderly man turned toward Smith with a rare light in his eyes. "You have thirty-four years ahead of you with this stroke problem."

"Thirty-four years. . ." Smith said as it sunk then became defiant. "I won't let it happen."

"You will see the Robinsons again in the land of the living." He smiled then waved back at the younger counterpart, delighted, but almost tearful. "Adieu."

"Zero minus four minutes until launch." echoed from the comn.

"Hurry, Doctor Smith." Robot announced. "We do not have that long. Traffic may be bad just getting to the Jupiter 2."

The elderly man leaped on to Robot's back.

"MARCH, BOOBY!"

Robot wheeled on exiting the cell leaving behind Smith.


	8. Time changes initiated

"Do we make it to Alpha Centauri this time around?" John asked.

"When do the changes start to take effect?" Will asked.

"Soon as you make the necessary adjustments." Chronos replied then gestured them toward the stations.

Will got back onto the treadmill then the professor rolled the leveler until a lout 'HALT' came forth.

"It is done." Chronos said. "Your entire crew makes it to Alpha Centauri."

"And Doctor Smith?" Will asked. "He was in trouble when he left."

"He gets swept under the rug." Chronos said. "The changes should occur after you and your family are fast asleep."

"When is Robot going to be here?" John asked.

"Shortly." Chronos said. "Once you wake up from your freezing tubes, you will remember everything that had once been . . . It will feel like you had a bad dream."

Will came toward the cage and waited for Robot's return then John joined his side. Chronos switched the camera display to reveal events that had occurred long ago. He watched as the Robinsons proceeded to walk backwards as did the doctor as everything _unhappened_ before his eyes as the tapes of the history were being erased. He tapped his fingers on the counter watching time tick back watching as events come to a pause in the office of the older man and begin anew. 

* * *

The elevator went up to the upper section of the support beams carrying Doctor Smith and Robot in hand with little discussion having been held between them. Smith leaped off the machine's figure then went toward the doorway that slowly closed and halted against the side of his shoe. Smith yelped, loudly then scowled at the development. The development that had terrified him the first time around always brought a head ache to his head each time that he had to restart the time loop.

Smith smacked the button then the door slid open completely letting them in. Smith lead the charge into the ship then Robot closed the door behind him with a hiss. They ran down the lower decks of the ship as time seemed to be going slower. Smith pressed a button and one of the crash couches came out of the lower panels. Robot went to the center of the bridge then the older man came up front.

"We have to do it."

"No." Smith said. "Not this time."

"We must preserve the timeline." Robot protested.

"We cannot do that." Smith argued back, calmly, without a flare of anger. "You will never see the Robinsons again shortly after you return to the present if I proceed to sabotage and take his place in his role in history."

"Doctor Smith, there is no buts about this!" Robot exclaimed.

"My sabotage was to kill them sooner, you bubble headed booby." Smith shook his finger as he glared at the machine. "And you want them to live, do you not?"

"I do." Robot bobbed his helm down. "I cannot return until history is corrected."

"Then I will do some programming and send you off." Then Smith smiled. "For old times sake, my dear friend."

He twiddled the switch then watched as color faded from Robot's grill and claws as his arms returned into his chassis. The figure belonging to Robot straightened as his helm raised up into the recharge glass of the center piece. He reprogrammed the machine to care for not only the Robinsons but for the entire crew of the Jupiter 2 for the long trip ahead as a defense mechanism. Smith made it into the chair then pressed a button and the chair retreated into the console where it became pitch black. 

* * *

Will looked toward his son resting in bed in the room that had once belonged to his sister and himself. Zachary was fast asleep on his side of the bed with a arm that was draped off the edge of the bed while across from him was his older sister surrounded by plush dolls that covered her figure from head to toe snoring away in contrast to her nine year old sibling. Her seventeen year old figure was discarded on the bed curled in a ball as the lump of her figure under the blanket moved up and down with each snore.

Will smiled then slowly closed the door and came down the corridor spotting the men at the dining room playing hand held devices that made loud and playful noise. The women were seated across from them reading novels with rapid attention on to them with widened eyes leaning forward quite absorbed in the novels. Mason lowered his device as the older Robinson came in his general direction.

"What are you going to do, Captain---Will?" Mason asked.

The women lowered their novels then shifted toward him.

"What ARE you going to do now that you are on Earth?" Branca asked.

"Patent, maybe." Will shrugged. "Maybe. . . Eh." he grimaced. ""That machine can't be used again."

He picked up a apple then bit into it as the men paused what they were doing and listened to him.

"Shame it can't be used to bring us back to the moment where everything vanished from your life." Gale noted on the unresolved matter.

"I am not giving up." Will replied.

"Then what are you going to do?" Gale asked.

"I am going to send a message to a certain alien that I know and. . . hope. . and hope. . . and hope that I get to it before Doctor Smith dies." Will said. "Someone who may actively know where the machine that displaced us into your lives."

"Doctor Smith has five hundred twenty-four thousand nine hundred forty-four minutes left." Gale said.

"And then bring us back home." Will finished.

"His presence will still have made sure the ship didn't hit that asteroid." Gale said.

"What about your children?" Vulet asked.

"They deserve to spend time on the planet their grandfather was bred and raised on." Will said. "They get to stay behind."

"Rose is seventeen." Mason said. "She is too young to be left here."

"That's why I want one of you are their guardians." Will said as his attention swept from member to member as they froze.

His eyes settled on Mason and Gale with amusement on how far it had taken to become friends over the start they had. The disdain that Gale once had for Mason was still there but it wasn't as bad it had been once many years ago about his character similar to the relationship that Don and Smith once shared. Will felt nostalgia on a certain level and fondness of the past that had once been.

No one knew how to counter the argument that was being proposed by the captain as the captain smiled on the issue while they exchanged a glance with each other. And the shock of the announcement was enough to keep them silenced for whatever he had to say next.

"You two, now," Will pointed at the women. "I can totally see you doing something but I don't know what it is."

"Helping people escape cults." Mason said. "It takes a lot of guts to kidnap someone and make sure they get deprogrammed with the help of the family all on their own."

"Or helping people out of toxic families like yours, Mason." Gale reminded.

"Vulet and Branca, what are you going to do?" Mason looked toward the women.

The women were quiet at the unexpected question.

"When are you leaving for space, Will?" Branca changed the subject.

Will was quiet for a long moment as he bit into the apple thinking it over. 

"There is nothing I can do except let history play out the way it should have had. Mom's heart attack. . ." Will pursed his lips then rubbed his chin. "If I could somehow put Doctor Smith into freezing status and make sure that he lives for maybe four months around the Robinsons then history would go on a _little_ bit differently."

"That wouldn't be a little given they would be on Gamma, Will." Gale reminded the older Robinson. "That's a big difference."

Will chuckled, heavily amused.

"It is the best cheating that I got on hand." Will admitted. "Something that works for me and my family."

"On the bad side, the Jupiter 2 could crash land and everyone would die if he were aboard because the ship wasn't programmed to land with one additional passenger." Mason said, leaning forward, holding his finger up and Will's head fell into his hands with a groan as he realized the younger man were right then everyone else groaned once seeing it were a evident problem. ". . . I don't like a thought being proven right."

"There has to be a answer to this complicated puzzle." Will grumbled lifting his head up from his hands.

"It is not like we could make a tiny worm but time hole in there that transport Doctor Smith from one point in time to the next point where the Jupiter 2 is likely to be." Branca said.

Vulet's head bobbed up."If we can modify the time vacuumn machine and created a simulator to determine the path of the Jupiter 2 should his weight go removed then we can make sure that your family get to wake up, treat your mother, and . . . "

"Get to know him and lose him." Mason finished for Vulet.

It was quiet for the group at the table.

"If they awakened and they remember what the time loop had been before, they wouldn't have that problem." Will said then became quiet as he chewed what bite that he had taken from the apple and swallowed. "Will won't be happy. But, he will be when he learns that his friend is alive and well on Earth." he finished the bits of the core then tossed it into the trash can and smiled bitterly as he leaned back into the chair folding his arm. "I know Doctor Smith and he wouldn't want that life saving procedure after everything is settled."

"So, Robot is going with you?" Vulet asked.

"Yes." Will said.

"It began with you, Robot, and Healer Smith." Gale said.

"Now, it is down to you two." Vulet said. "It shouldn't be that way."

"I agree." Mason said. "It is unfair. It is cruel. It is depressing. It isn't right."

"It was always going to end this way." Will assured the pitying group. "I accepted that long ago when I was thirteen when Doctor Smith and I were on the bridge on shift."

"That was a long time ago." Vulet said, softly.

"This is my mission." he leaned against the counter with a tired smile as Zachary listened, halfway peaking out, listening to the conversation that was under way as his hazel eyes were slowly widening as he listened. "I have to see it through."

Will washed his hands thoroughly into the sink then dried his hands off shifting toward the group.

"If we can extend Smith's last year long of existence then maybe if I don't find a way home immediately, I know everything is set for what happens after five years."

"Five years of your son's existence. . . and maybe longer," Gale said. "Do you want to leave him behind?"

Will started to open his mouth then closed it with a sigh. 

"Gale, it will be kind of weird for my dad to see his thirteen year old son with two children of his own." Will replied.

Gale snorted in amusement. 

"Right." Gale said.

Will went toward the window then withdrew the curtain and spotted the shape of the saucer flying through the night sky and smiled. _Good luck, Doctor Smith._ He could already see in his mind the older man waiting in the lower decks of the ship as it flew off course. He could imagine the events that got them not being allowed to get lost to pass.

Will could imagine how happy that he was to see the familiar faces of the other members of the Robinsons, how confident but miserable that Smith would be all alone in the ship armed with supplies that Robot moved into the younger Jupiter 2 that would last him for the remainder of his existence. But, it was far better than dying alone in one of his troubles while Will and his personally made family were gone beyond hos reaches. The fact soothed the captain. _  
_

"The couch has a bed underneath." Will said. "Good night."

Zachary ducked into his cabin fighting back tears and wiping them off with his sleeves as he quietly went to his bed and his hand reached out for thin air to close a door that wasn't there following old muscle memory and fell into bed with a plop.

"Good night." Was the unanimous chorus.

"Tomorrow, we start going our separate ways and preparing for our new lives." Will announced.

Will went into a room that had once been his parents room, closed the door behind him, and tucked into bed for the first time in a long time underneath the blankets.

* * *

From the launch pad of the Jupiter 2, Robot stood and watched as the ship flew off into the sky to face the new destiny that had been written for her.

"Good-luck." Robot waved a red claw at the fleeing saucer. "Old chum!"

Robot's claws retreated into his chassis and read his external advanced sensor report of the saucer going out of range of visual. Robot returned into the older Jupiter 2 and the door closed behind him as the lights fell to pitch black.


	9. The unreluctant pilot

The crash couch retreated out of the console eight hours after the fact of departure. Smith slid out of the chair and sighed, folding his arms, breathing in the recycled air that was left behind as the ship closed off from the outside forces of the planet. He unfolded his arms and cradled his hands as he walked toward the corridor humming to himself then went into the upper decks. He came to a pause then went up front and slid the lower doors open beneath the console. He slid out the command chairs with ease carefully dragging them out of the cubbies.

He went to the astronavigator then corrected the course.

Then he went to the console and looked down spotting a pile of books had fallen out of the box.

"Oh my dear friend. . . So that is what you were doing in the last hour," Smith said. "Hiding all the books everywhere you could so I can spend the year with entertainment."

Smith slipped out his reading glasses then tucked them between the pages of the novel.

Smith shifted his attention onto the asteroid belt ahead of him and manipulated the console with stillness navigating through it with care as tension was flowing his veins and sweat poured down his skin. He made sure the Jupiter 2 exited the asteroid belt with ease then turned on the autopilot. Smith leaped up to his feet with a "Woohoo!" and proceeded to dance.

"I broke a time loop!"

Smith swayed from side to side.

"I broke a time loop!"

And proceeded to sing.

"I broke a time loop! I did it! I did it! I did it! Go Zachary! Go Zachary! You're a winner! Shake your booty!" he wiggled his butt in glee. "You've got swag! Shake it like you don't care!" he grinned widely from ear to ear. "Oh dear, Rose and Zachary Junior were right!" he proceeded to moon walk around the room. "This dance _is_ wonderful!"

His hands rolled into fists as he clasped his hands together spinning his elbows in a back and forth motion in his personal deserved celebration.

"I did it! I did it! I did it!" He threw his aged hands into the air as he proceeded to twirl with a joyful laugh throwing his head back. "I saved my dear boy's family!"

Smith twirled and caught himself on his heel before he could fall regaining his balance.

"I did it!" Smith clapped his hands together, pressing them against his chest, tearfully then sighed in relief. "I did it."

Smith fell to his knees in front of the chair with a sigh and cried, tearfully, of a victory that hadn't been quite expected. _It is a long and over due victory._ Smith patted at his eyes with his purple handkerchief as he began to sniffle and sob. Smith got up to his feet with minimal difficulty then faced the view that he would have to face every day for the remainder of his life. Instead of anger, resentment, boredom, and misery; Smith felt it was the happiest period of his life as he grinned watching the gas planet Jupiter watching him pass. 

Smith sat down into the pilot's chair then picked up a novel and went down to the lower decks for the rationed package that Robot had packed for him. 

It was all going to be good.


	10. Deals

In a cloud of thick smoke, Robot reappeared in the cage. The cage was lifted up and Robot's arms returned into his chassis.

"Robot, are you okay?" Will asked.

"Affirmative." Robot said.

"Come on out." John said. "Doctor Smith should be coming any time soon soon."

Robot complied then twirled toward the professor and Will.

"Doctor Smith will not be returning." Robot announced.

"What?" John asked. "Why is he not returning?"

"Because another version took his place and he didn't have to make the decision to leave to save you." Chronos said from afar.

John turned toward the man of Time.

"Another version of Doctor Smith?" John asked.

"Gee," Will said. "Two Doctor Smiths? That is more wild than anything I have been through."

"Yes." Chronos said. "The other version will be there to fill you in of what exactly happened back on Earth."

"What happens to the other version?" John asked.

"Doctor Smith dies after he has a fatal stroke." Chronos said. "Your version would have suffered the same fate decades from now if he made it to live that long."

"If he wants to die with my family around him then we will let him." John said.

"He must have been through a lot to get back to Earth and interfere in the timeline."

Once Will acknowledged the sheer fact, he grimaced a second after saying that with pity on the man. The sheer circumstance that built him up into that position and his counterpart to allow him to do that. He knew the heartbreak, the sorrow, the bitterness that his older counterpart must have felt when he were letting Doctor Smith go.

"He discovered the consequences of his actions, Will." John reminded his son once he placed a hand on the child's shoulder. "It had to have been worse than how we fared from here on."

"Yeah." Will agreed with a nod.

"He has been through a lot." Chronos said.

"Let's go home, son." John said then grinned and they proceeded to walk away.

"Not unless you pay up." Chronos said, sharply. "Five years, Professor Robinson."

John paused in his tracks as did Will.

"Negative," Robot said as he twirled toward the man of time as the duo turned toward Chronos. "Doctor Smith informed me on the way here that his current counterpart is to pay for the trips."

"Five years?" Chronos asked. "Did he give his consent?"

"That, he did." Robot said. "Five years is not a lot."

Chronos went through the chain of events then watched the man proclaim the consent as he were being transported by the machine.

"Th-t-t-t-r-t-t-t-that sneaky, stubborn, foolish man!" Chronos stammered in anger. "He will live for twenty-eight years! Not thirty-four years!"

"Somehow," John voiced to his son. "I get the feeling that he will spend those years well."

"Me too," Will said as they chuckled over the complaining older man.

"Didn't ask for his counterpart's consent but since he _is_ him. . ." Chronos frowned then shrugged. "The matter is mute."

Chronos took out the roll of tape put it into a machine and slid the tape out that carefully slid out a strip of tape. Chronos cut off the strand of tape then rolled it up and put it into a box of tape. He grinned as the tape was rolled back up and returned to the slots of tape. John's eyes rested on the man of time then the man waved them off.

"Free to go." Chrono said. "Go." he waved a hand off. "Before I change my mind."

The duo turned away then went on.

* * *

Will awoke that morning then fetched the ingredients that were necessary for cooking breakfast. He had seen his father do some of the cooking as a child when his mother couldn't cook prior to the mission taking them away so he followed the memory to a tea as he put vegetable oil on the pan, cracked several eggs then dropped them in, and spun them repeatedly, with toast and plates waiting alongside him. He observed the apartment that had housed four additional people lacked them in nature.

It was quiet as he heard the shower run then he smiled. He turned on the television set on the counter and waited as the news came over the line. The Jupiter 2 was represented on the screen as going along the course -- mostly -- but it was going several meters off the original course on a new one that still lead to the destination as it rested across from the news reporter. Will smiled at the developing story then set the table up with the freshly cooked breakfast. Then he made some pancakes in the second pan using his personal experience in space as a guide.

The children came into the dining room that was full of steaming food and they sat across from the other, perfectly dried, all dressed up in modern day outfits that he had purchased from JC Penny's in the middle of the night along with a stylized bra that his daughter seemed to prefer as it existed on Earth. Will smiled as the television volume was down. The only sounds that filled the air was silverware clacking against the plates and Rose held a magazine in her lap as she ate between bites with large eyes.

Will had to end the silence.

"Listen," Will started. "you have to stay on Earth---"

"No!" Zachary roared as he stood up from the table. "I am not staying on Earth while you leave me behind!" Zachary shook his head. " I spent two years to find you after mom died because she said you were the best person to spend a childhood with!"

"You were _six_ years old when you went into space for me." Will said. "I am not about to let you grow up to become a sixty-six year old traveling in space for a way to my continuity."

"So?" Zachary furrowed his brows. "This is just like that."

Will sighed, exasperated.

"Son. . . ." Will started.

"I have only SPENT A YEAR with you in my life! I don't want to let you go! You're actually a great dad."

Rose tuned out the conversation as she read a magazine intently.

"Zachary, if we get back to my time, you are going to grow up alongside me." Will began to explain to the young boy with a certain calmness that was a bit soothing. "And your dad will be your grandpa." He winced at the unusual situation that his father would find himself in. "He will be raising you."

"So what?" Zachary folded his arms with a glare pointed back toward Will. "He is family." he sat back down into the chair. "And so are the other members, I don't care the differences in how old we are---all I care is being part of the Robinson family!"

Will sighed, _that doesn't weird him out in the least._

"Zachary, you are part of a Robinson family with Branca, Vulet, Rose---"

"BUT YOU'RE NOT PART OF IT IF YOU LEAVE."

Will winced at the scream that came from the boy who's voice strained.

"Distance doesn't matter in family, Zachary. You have my blood running through your veins, you have the heart of a Robinson, you have the teachings of one, and you have the ESP rating of a Robinson." Will reminded the young boy. "Which means I will always be part of it."

"You promised me that you wouldn't let the same thing happen to me."

"What part?"

"Never seeing you again as I grow up." Zachary replied as Rose looked toward her father expecting a retort. 

The words cut into the wound of the absence of Will lacking his family.

"I am doing this for you." Will said, softly.

"The Jupiter 2 is DIFFERENT." Zachary resumed then gestured toward Rose and himself as he leaned back into the chair. "You have a whole new family. A family that counts on you!" he threw his hands up into the air. "Why do you want to throw that away?"

It was quiet in the dining room as the word stung into the captain's chest.

"Because that is the only thing that has kept me going for the last twenty years." Will smiled upon the boy with bright red hair. "Getting them back to the Jupiter 2, intact or aged as I am, it all depends on what happens after I press that little button."

Will's smile faded as he stared upon the young boy as he meekly shrugged at the fact that made the boy's face fall.

"I am counting on being taken away and return to the timeline that I come from. The unexpected always happened when it came to space and me and Robot and Doctor Smith and my folks."

Will sighed, lowering his head, then lifted his head up.

"Whether I want it or not. This is me making sure that you -- " he pointed from Rose to Zachary. "--have a new normal should Robot, I, Jupiter 2, and Doctor Smith be taken away."

Zachary was silent as he listened to his father calmly explain his motivation.

"I want you to have the childhood that you deserve. If news reporters have to be part of it then so be it but it is the one that grounds you down to Earth. If I don't find a way home then you can join me at Alpha Centauri in five years. That is where I will be if I don't find it." Zachary stared at the older man, his brown eyes displaying nothing, nothing of potential, just a slight sign of seeing how unfair it was. "And Robot."

"And the Jupiter 2." Rose said.

"And the Jupiter 2," Will amended. "I will come back to bring you there." Then Will cleared his throat. "If you _want_ to be there by then."

Zachary was quiet as he stared at his father for a long moment.

"That is a deal." Zachary said then glared back at him. "And you can't cheat your way out of it."

"I don't cheat my way out of things, Zachy." Will leaned back into the chair with a snicker and put his hands on the back of his head "I. . more so. . . find a third option."

"That is still cheating, father." Rose butted in.

Will leaned forward unclasping his hands from the back of his head.

"Everyone has their opinions." Will shook his hand with a smile. "Rose, I am leaving in a month."

"Okay." Rose said then squinted at her father. "That is a very specific number."

"A month is all I need to find a way to secure your grandparents and your aunt's lives." he tilted his hand sideways on the table.

"Just a month?" Rose asked.

"Just a month is all that is needed." Will grinned in reply to the younger woman. "Just to catch up with the Jupiter 2 and all do what I want after getting the equipment ready and/or invented."

"Oh no." Rose said as her features fell in horror and dismay. "You're going to go on a invention spree."

"It's not going to be messy like last time." Will assured the young woman.

"Father, last time you _nearly_ blew up the auxiliary deck!"

"That was a accident."

"Thirty times says you need to use their help."

"I don't want them involved on this."

"They see things differently compared to you, which isn't a diss, it's more of a 'they got a different pair of eyes' when they see your inventions."

"I won't be too close."

"My first birthday cake that I remember--you got too close to that!"

"It was a dancing cake! Who says no to that?"

"I do. And it exploded right in our faces."

"You were covered in icing and cake. It wasn't the worst explosion then." Will reminded Rose quite amused. "You and the others scraped off what you could and ate it anyway over my objections about how safe that a imploded cake would be."

"It was a delicious cake-- asides to the mechanical bits that were unlickable -- that I had." Rose said in fondness. "You should have left it as a cake."

Zachary was howling with laughter.

"I don't know if I can trust Alpha Control but given they have defense contracts and experienced inventors for this sort of thing, it does seem they are more prime to ask for their help." the older man changed the subject with ease as his daughter's eyes squinted back at him.

"Father, why do you want the others not involved?" Rose asked over Zachary's laughter.

"Because I got them where they need to be." And Zachary ceased to laugh.

Will was cutting his pancakes up then applying syrup on to them with a twirl as his eyes were focused on the stack then cut into the pancakes with a knife with the syrup resting on the center of the time.

"Mason far away from the kingdom, Branca and Vulet in a safer place, Gale getting to be on a planet full of cultures and people who need help. The two of you---" he gestured a fork at them then took a bite of his scrambled eggs and swallowed. "---getting to live on the planet I was raised on as millions go for Alpha Centauri in five years."

"And technically, I would be your uncle at the age I am at in freezing tube." Will added between bites as the children ate their breakfast. "And technically as your uncle I am also obligated to take you to a zoo, to a aquarium, to anything in general before I get down to business with Alpha Control on a very important matter."

"Wooooooohooooo!" the children cheered.


	11. A light at the end of the tunnel

Robot was the first of the group to return through the portal followed Will and John. The professor was the first to go through the mouth of the cave then pause and look out noticing the storm had dissipated. The professor grinned stepping forward as the light hit upon him. His normally guarded and weary futures were replaced by ones of content. He could hear birds in the landscape then looked on and his eyes registered colorful strands in the distance as the darkness from space was slowly taking over the sky replaced by constellations with the alien moons beginning to stand out more than they had since the morning had begun.

"Will, look!" John pointed into the distance.

Will joined his side.

"A space rainbow!" Will said, his eyes in dumbstruck, in awe, then began to smile.

"Affirmative." Robot confirmed.

"Will, I get the feeling that everything is going to be okay tomorrow morning." John said.

"Me too, dad. Me too." Will looked up toward the professor with a smile. "I will miss him, though."

"We will all miss him." John admitted. "He is a very unique and memorable character."

"It won't be the same waiting five years for civilization to come our way without Doctor Smith." Will said. 

"Doctor Smith decided to spend five years on our ship guiding us to Alpha Centauri to make sure we didn't get destroyed, if he can do that then so so we can we."

Will's smile turned into a grin.

"He is stronger than I am." Will said. "I can't do it. Going through time? Editing events? I would be fine with the way things went."

"But your counterpart seemed to disagree with that." John said. 

"We will find out why in the morning." Will said. "Somehow, I get the feeling with the way things turned out, it wasn't anything good."

"It was bad enough to force him to take that action." John said. "That is answer enough."

"You're right." Will found himself agreeing to his fathers comment. "It would only dig up the past and he wouldn't be happy."

Will took a step forward but was halted by John.

"Hold your horses, son." John put a hand on Will's shoulder then grinned and made a bolt for the Chariot. "First one there is a rotten space apple!"

John laughed as did Will racing the other to the Chariot and Robot followed.


	12. A change

The Chariot returned that night to the Jupiter 2 and the family waiting for them on the bridge. Will was the first to hop out of the Chariot then run on in to the arms of his sisters. Don grinned then noticed the older man was gone as the professor came out of the Chariot with Robot behind him. Robot proceeded to start the unfolding process with the Chariot until it were in the condition that it had been taken out of only hours ago. The professor went up toward the stairway of the Jupiter 2 and stepped aside.

"Where is Smith?" Don asked.

"He decided to stay behind." Will was the first to start.

"Where is Doctor Smith?" Penny asked as she looked on behind them as did her sister. "Did he get into trouble again?"

"Is Doctor Smith okay?" Judy asked, concerned.

The demeanor of the men changed in a moment to grins and the women expected Smith to come running their way shrieking for their help--but, he didn't.

"He is on Earth three years from now enjoying a quiet return after his trouble brought him there." John reported. "And our ship. . . well, it's headed for Alpha Centauri right as we speak." John pointed over his shoulder toward the sky as the family's eyes widened and exchanged glances with the other over the announcement. "The change in history will happen when we are sleeping."

"We are going to be there when we wake up!" Judy said. "We are going to put up telephone poles, stay in one place for more than a day, and plant in the soil!"

"And lose Debbie." Penny said with sorrow.

"We will regain her." John promised. "I will make sure that we will after we make it to the planet."

"The planet is ten thousand light years away from Earth." Will said. "It will take ten years worth of waiting just to start the search and find her."

"Except for the space miner." Judy said. "The planet wouldn't be there."

"Then we will have to live without Debbie." Penny's voice cracked at the mention.

"And me. "

"Robot, you're part of the family." Judy told the machine. "You are going to be with us."

"Professor Robinson, most of the memory tape extension came from Robbie the Robot and most of my equipment comes from other machines." Robot reminded the Robinsons. "Once the chance occurs, I will be back to the settings that I was sent out into space and the basic equipment that was designed for this mission."

"Then, that makes tonight your funeral." Will said.

"Affirmative." Robot confirmed.

"We'll have the best funeral there ever was." Maureen announced with pride and optimism in her voice. "I have made apple-berry cobbler, beans and bacon, and egg salad, and hamburgers for dinner!"

"We can talk about Robot and how we'll miss him before we go to bed, how about that?" Penny suggested.

"That is a wonderful idea, Penny." John said.

"Perhaps, it would be best if we changed into our space suits before we do his funeral." Maureen said.

"That would make it easier for all of us." Judy said. "Easier slipping into the existence of being somewhere we should and not feeling like it is a dream."

"I like the sound of that." John said. "Does everyone agree?"

A unanimous, "I do." came from the family.

"Then let's eat." Maureen said.

The family departed from the doorway as Robot turned on the door and wheeled toward them.

* * *

The Robinsons ate their meals with a lone empty chair among them. It was strange to have left over food. It was even stranger having to leave it in the galley for the morning as the family went into their cabins to change into their silver space suits while Maureen and the professor had already changed into the familiar uniforms that felt far familiar to them as their castaway uniforms. Maureen shook her head on the matter of the food.

"Darling, something is bothering you." John came to her side then sat down into the chair. "Talk about it."

"Is it really going to bring us to Gamma?" Maureen asked.

"Chronos said so himself." John replied with a slow nod.

"What if he made a entirely different timeline and we won't be there?" Maureen asked as she folded her arms quite disturbed by her own comment. "What if. . ." she looked aside, unfolding her arms, putting a hand on her lips wincing at her train of thought then shifted toward John. "What if the other us get there, get down to business, and don't even know how lucky they were to reach Alpha Centauri at all? Just taking it all for granted being there."

John cupped the side of her face with a smile once he were face to face with her and after he got back up to his feet.

"He said we will remember it as a dream." John said as he stroked the side of her cheek. "We won't take it for granted."

Maureen placed a hand on his hand as she fell into the loving gesture.

"I can't help but not want to dump the food out." Maureen admitted to her partner. "Not tonight."

"Not tonight." John nodded as his hands moved to her shoulders. "Maureen, it is feels even more weirder that Smith hasn't finished the left overs. It is even weirder that we went through Time and dealt with it." then he puffed a sigh with a smile. "You won't believe how many clocks I saw!"

"Why Professor Robinson, three years in space, I can believe everything you say about what you see!" Maureen exclaimed.

"Except from the children." John said.

"They are very imaginative people." Maureen said. "They get that from their father."

John grinned with a laugh as he looked upon her.

"I feel that they get that from you." John said.

"Your mind is capable of going from Earth to Gamma without having stepped foot on to it." Maureen reminded him. "Your selling line, _'Green pastures far as the eye could see, plenty of space to raise a family, us against the wildlife of the planet, making our own food, and having family time ALL the time_ '."

John laughed even harder.

"We still got that," John said. "All the time. Right?"

"We do." Maureen said. "As much as we can afford in these circumstances. . . It feels silly leaving left overs in the galley when everything will change while we are sleeping."

"But a precaution is all that is necessary in the face of a promised and drastic change." John said as his words eased her thoughts.

"Yes," Maureen said. "A precaution."

"If it helps you feel better, I wonder to myself, is this another deception? Another trick? A rapture that is going to happen? That Chronos is playing a cruel prank on us all?"

John was visibly deeply troubled by his own thoughts that were irking. He turned away letting go of her shoulders then leaned against the corridor looking toward the doorway of the Jupiter 2 anticipating to see the Jupiter 2 door open and reveal a all too familiar face. Maureen's demeanor became fraught by sympathy for his feelings. 

"I expect Smith to come through that doorway and tell us that being lost with us is better than being back on Earth than he originally thought after having restored our timeline." John admitted while lowering his head and his mood shifted from bright to dark. "Being back where we were only a hour ago; lost and away from Alpha Centauri."

Maureen approached the professor as she slipped on her silver gloves then took his hands.

"Professor Robinson, we're still a family and the way I see it? It's all good long as we have each other."

Maureen was the one to started the hug and the professor reciprocated.

"I am scared, too, John." Maureen admitted. "Of losing the children, forever. Of losing the Jupiter 2 and any chances of getting home."

"We won't let that happen." John said. "Over our dead bodies."

Maureen clenched on to the back of his space uniform as she closed her eyes and wept, silently, as did he with the terror they were experiencing.

* * *

The family took turns talking about Robot and how he had been their friend in the trying time being lost in space. It was a experience that John didn't think would be so emotional even from a machine that was supposed to be inanimate and boring in all respects but as humans were well known for, they became connected to the machine and welcomed him as one of their own. The children gave nice analogies and Penny hugged Debbie the Bloop the hardest. It was difficult for her to put the monkey into the cubbie one last time then close the curtain and cry in the arms of her older sister.

The professor looked out the window for one last time seeking for the doctor. He wanted to believe that his children weren't going to abandon everything they had known just as they had done three years ago for a world that offered a relief from the one that they had departed from. Penny was sniffling as she went to her shared cabin. John retreated from the doorway as the family went to the upper decks then went into stasis for one last time with Robot up front.

It was nearly one AM. Time was ticking by fast as the family squeezed the other's hand then went to their freezing tubes and stood in the center. It was silently arranged as Judy took Debbie out of her cubbie then let her out into the wild. Debbie the Bloop ran away into the night as Judy smiled then began to tear up. She turned away then returned into the ship. The professor and Maureen went to their respective tubes, grounding themselves to stand still, with Robot's aid in hypnotism them to remain still. Robot withdrew his improvised grandfather's watch.

Robot went to the lower decks of the ship then waited then yanked his power back off resting underneath the robot charger booth. With that last action, a wave of crackling electricity came from the distance headed for the Jupiter 2. Debbie fled into the nearest cave and awaited for the storm to pass.

The Robinsons remained still in their freezing tubes waiting for history to change as it came as a giant wave after their ship. The giant wave crashed upon the Jupiter 2. And the Jupiter 2 vanished as did any signs that it had once been there as everything remained still inside of the Jupiter 2. Then quite abruptly, the galley opened and a hand withdrew a steaming plate.

At the galley table was Smith reading a book wearing glasses intrigue with his meal resting below him on the table and a cup of water beside him.

Smith looked toward the cabins then smiled quite fondly at the closed and quite empty cabins.

Even most importantly at the machine that stood in the center of the residential deck. 

"Never fear, Smith is here and Smith eats safely." Smith waved his synthesized napkin at the machine then tucked his napkin along his dickie then grinned looking down upon the meal. "Now, to enjoy one of many 365 days of a decent breakfast."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I stop giving moments for John and Maureen to have affectionate intimate moments with the other in my fanfictions? 
> 
> No, I don't think so.
> 
> ONE MORE CHAPTER to resolve how Smith lives to treat Maureen's heart attack.


	13. five months later

The Jupiter 2 made a emergency departure from Earth and made her way after the course that was still registered by the space equipment. Will, Mason, and Gale maned the ship as they arrived five months after the departure of the original Jupiter for Gamma. Vulet was in the pilot's seat as the men suited up into the advanced space suits over Robot's announcement of the sleeping schedule of Doctor Smith.

"Doctor Smith is now sleeping at this moment."

"Great!" Will said. "Gale, are you ready for your side of the plan?"

"Air-lock myself out after making the adjustment to the course for after my landing and make myself a cage, I got that down."

"No, you are to ensure that our --" Will waved the cryo gun in the air. " -- friend remains at suspended animation by the coordinated time this machine indicates each period it must be reactivated."

"And the food?" Vulet asked.

"We use the time tunnel prototype to send at the coordinates that Gale will be." Will said. "Which is precisely one day away from Gamma so Doctor Smith will be able to fully awaken."

"Why can't we do the same for Doctor Smith?" Vulet asked. "That is a bugger in the rear having to cryo him constantly."

"Because his employers don't want them to get there." Will explained to the somewhat younger woman with a hand on the side of the chair. "If they are there then he will be our bait and once they begin to attack him in the slightest, Gale will appear out of no where and strike them down."

Will smacked his fist with one hand.

"I can't believe that Doctor Smith saved two people out of time." Mason said.

"Hey!" Will exclaimed with a start. "My family counts as people being taken out of time."

"But two unrelated people!" Mason held his two fingers up.

"Same people who helped with the tunnel for the food." Vulet said. "With how tiredly they worked, it might as well just be the beginning of a life long debt."

"For all things considered, it probably is." Will grinned at the prospect. "Friends for life."

"People who made the choice of going out there." Mason returned to the subject at hand glaring toward the quite old Robinson. "Two people, Will."

"Makes it. . what. . ." Mason started to count on his fingers.

"Eight." Gale helpfully supplied.

"Eight people taken out of time." Mason said.

"You're making Doctor Smith look like superman," Will said, exasperated and everyone looked at Will in disbelief. "Which he isn't."

"Of everything that he is capable of; chiding a dragon down from eating people and teaching it manners and honor, insulting a troll to stop in its tracks and clean up after itself and clean itself which coincidentally made the troll feel better after a nice bath, teaching a rich kid manners and what it is like to be living like us---"

"Those seem so little in comparison to his exploits." Will chuckled as he cut off the young Yahetson. "I still can't believe he did all that and _more_."

"That was for Rose's benefit." Vulet reminded. "Remember? She was so frightened and falling apart and pacing about."

"Oh, how I remember those moments." Will winced with fondness. "He really stepped to the plate when we were about to do the worst."

"Now, what is the plan again?" Mason shifted the subject.

"I will get the food first," Will said. "Then Mason gets to reprogram Robot to not attack us."

"And I will get to Doctor Smith." Gale finished the trail of thought.

"I will make sure that this ship is in constant passage with the Jupiter 2." Vulet said. 

"You're a life saver, Vul." Will said with a laugh.

"Oi! And don't you forget about it!" Vulet announced. "Ship is in the designated course for the transport system!"

The men went into a single file then went to the lower decks of the ship as the woman piloted the ship following along to the coordinates. Gale paused in front of the doorway then shook the captain's hand as they smiled then the blue portal opened before them. The group looked on toward the entrance of the other side then went in a neat file line into the lower decks of the Jupiter 2 that was identical in nature to the other Jupiter 2.

Robot twirled toward them, "Destroy intruders!" with his rallying cry and fired at the crew. Gale ducked out of the line of fire and Mason was struck by the electricity coming from the machine. Mason collapsed to the ground then slid up to his feet and lunged forward but Robot twirled waving his silver claws as if creating a spider web around the man. Mason cried with a fall as Robot loomed over him summoning wounds upon the younger man.

Mason screamed then pressed a button in his hand causing Robot to cease attacking him as if he were struck by a counter attack that threw him off. Mason ducked as the machine fired at them regaining control of his external defense system. Will made a bolt for the cargo bay as Mason hid underneath Robot's line of vision and proceeded to reprogram him in a rush as Gale slid the door way open to the elderly man's cabin then fired the cryostasis gun at the resting older man in the bed. Smith became outlined in gold lighting then became still in the bed. Gale grinned lowering the device down.

Will came out of the cargo bay holding the time tunnel gun in the other hand with a grin. Mason made a few more reprogramming with a grumble specifying the purpose of the visit then sent the machine off to the center of the ship. Mason sat down into the chair regaining his bearings. Will came to the younger man's side with a laugh.

"Is that really how he was?" Mason asked.

Will laughed then nodded.

"Yes." Will replied.

Mason leaned forward with one hand on his chest.

"He is terrifying." Mason gulped.

"He really isn't terrifying, Yahetson." Will shook his head. 

"Just because he is your friend doesn't mean he is still not terrifying." Mason replied.

Will laughed as he turned away then walked toward the portal.

"Come on." Will said. "When we or you and other rescuers come back, that is going to require a lot of team work in the next five years just catching him."

Mason rolled his eyes as he followed the man through the portal then the portal vanished leaving behind Gale on the bridge watching the Jupiter 2 retread to the prior course.

"Good luck, Captain Robinson." Gale said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of _this_ story from the course.


End file.
